Syria SITREP October 07th 2015 by John Rambo

From the Syrian military standpoint this was perfect timing. Morale has been an all-time low amongst the Syrian Arab Army and Hezbollah forces deployed in Syria. Heavy intermixed regular and irregular fighting for a better part of four and a half years is draining to any military, let alone a small country such as Syria. [Source]

Syria is a destroyed country. It is nothing but a husk of its former self. Ancient historical sites that once drew in the tourists have been pillaged and demolished by the Islamic State. Infrastructure such as roads, power lines, and water systems has been set back forty years. Major segments of its population are refugees displaced internally and abroad. Syria truly will never be the same again. [Source]

So one can safely say the Russian air strikes (and potential increased involvement) has been a blessing to the Pro-Assad forces on the ground. Syria has been restricted to fighting one military front at a time due to manpower shortages, giving opponents the ability to take advantage of lightly reinforced government-held areas and outskirt outposts. These Russian air strikes will not only strengthen SAA ground offensives but also support defending forces at the fringes of government control. For the Syrian draft dodgers the Russian air strikes are taken as a form of hope; finally there are other countries besides Iran that want to see a stabilized Syria. Islamists are now being struck by US jets in Iraq but by Russian jets in Syria, leaving only Jordan and Turkey as the only safe havens left.

As for Russia, it has decided to step up and do what the Americans can’t (or won’t) do and that is to try to put the Islamic extremism genie back in the lamp, in Syria anyway. For Russia this is a gamble. Many hawkish individuals are screaming that this will be a second Afghanistan. Undoubtedly Wahhabi Islamists within the Caucuses are fuming at the Russian involvement in the Middle East, and unlike the United States, Russia is within reach of these domestic jihadists. It’s safe to assume Russia probably stepped up domestic surveillance and security in potential hotspot areas within its territory. [Source] After all it wasn’t that long ago when Prince Bandar was talking about how he can “turn-on and turn-off” the Chechen Jihadists. Who knows how much truth that holds… if any… but better to play it safe. [Source]

For Russia has a lot to lose in this intervention. A downed and captured pilot may be a domestic political nightmare. Even though the Russian airbase is heavily guarded and patrolled 24 hours of the day, the potential for material loss of fighter jets in a surprise suicide attack is still there. Let’s not forget how resourceful Islamists can be. It seems over the years even the most blockheaded of mujahids can surprise you in today’s 21st century of warfare. Take a look at the Taliban’s successful attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2012 where they successfully destroyed six harrier jets (and severely damaging two more), a C-130 plane, and killed 2 marines while trying to gun for Prince Harry himself (who was stationed at the base as part of his military service). [Source]

The government of Syria formally requested aid from Russia and Russia replied in the form of airstrikes. Why Russia chose now to help Assad and not earlier is still a puzzle. Of course Russian gains a few things from this expedition.For one, it’s better to these Wahhabis, especially the Chechens who were imported to the area thanks to Saudi Arabia, in Syria than to have to fight them in Russia.

Secondly this is a perfect chance to test out some military hardware. Not only is this an opportunity to see how well these aerial weapon systems work in conjunction with coordinated ground operations in real life combat scenarios (with a ground force comprised of ex-Soviet and Russian equipment) but also test out the electronic warfare systems against the regional players. Turkey, Israel and Jordan all have electronic warfare units. Air warfare and electronic warfare go hand-in-hand. There is no such thing as a modern air operation without electronic warfare being involved.

And finally to keep Assad afloat, an ally and for some reason one that has had a long history of support from Russia (and once USSR). In the past providing advanced weaponry of all forms, from anti-tank missiles to anti-air weapon systems, tanks to fighter jets, etc. etc. Of course in keeping the Assad government alive so too are the Russian naval base in Syria.

Still one must wonder. Russia must gain something more than that. Especially with the risk it is undertaking.

ISIL is not a stupid player in this conflict. The Islamic State has been able to fool the US into providing weapons and training for the jihad for quite some time. ISIL has also endured a year of strikes from the US and its Arab partners, sometimes averaging to a dozen strikes a day. There have been more bombs dropped on ISIL in the past year than the 5 years in Afghanistan. [SOURCE] But now there is a sense of despair in the air. The difference is the effectiveness of the Russian strikes. Thanks to the human intelligence assets infiltrated inside opposition groups by Syrian intelligence the Russians have been able to get very accurate information on rallying points, command posts, storage areas, and even locations of leadership personnel of these terrorists. Human intelligence provides more accurate data than drones, flybys, signal interception, or game theory analysis. Human intelligence is right there, right now.

So let’s take a look at the actions, potential actions, and events of each actor in this theater of war:

Russia:
• Expanded an airbase and reinforced it with ground security forces which include round-the-clock helicopter gunship patrols.
• Advanced electronic warfare platforms spotted at Latakia [Source]
• Has created a Joint Information Center (co-ordination) with the organizations that have units on the ground such as Syria, Iran and Iraq. [Source]
• Plans to cull the number of renegade Chechens in Syria instead of waiting for them to come home and cause trouble in Russia
• The opportunity to test out the latest variants or upgrade kits on fighter jets in combat situations for realistic performance data (Su-24M, Su-25SM, and Su-30SM are upgraded variants of their original make design for a modern electronic warfare-laden battlefield).
• Consistently attacking ALL opposition positions, starting with those threatening the Syrian regime first and moving up to ISIL; perhaps in tangent with an Iraqi ground op.
• Mulling expanding its mission into Iraq if requested by the Iraqi military.
• Big international prestige and PR campaign…. If successful.
• The Russian deployment is somewhat an assurance against Israeli air strikes on IRGC and Hezbollah forces.
• Russia has the option to punish Turkey for its support in allowing ISIL to use its borders by discretely (or overtly) aiding the Kurds; as the Kurds have been a US ally since the Iraq invasion in 2003 the US can’t overtly denounce the aid.
• This entire air operation might be a way to bridge the gap between the US and Assad. The US is unwilling to work with Assad and Iranian forces on the ground, but Russia has no scruples in doing so. The US, with its considerably larger air force in the region, can strike while Iran and Syria provide the intel alongside Russia. The US can save face, Russia can save an ally, and Syria and Iraq are literally just saved. (Wishful thinking).

Syria:
• Syria right now is taking cover to recoup and to play some propaganda cards to try to get as many people on the regimes side as possible.
• Draft dodgers may be incentivized to commit to their conscription due to the positive foreign intervention from a superpower (finally, a nation with high-tech equipment actually bombing the terrorists for once).
• Syrian military morale, which was low due to the never ending flow of foreign fighters, has slightly increased because of the Russian air strikes.
• The Syrian military has been restructured twice times throughout the conflict. First from its old Soviet-modelled format to a hybrid military incorporating conventional and irregular forces to a garrison-style force adjusting for a protracted conflict. [Source]
• Syrian Air Force is freed up to provide direct air support to Syrian Arab Army units while Russian Air Force maintains pressure on the “rear” of the opposition with surgical strikes on command centers, training sites, and storage areas.
• There are some heavy urban battles to come for the Syrian Arab Army which is projecting a lot of causalities (some even suggesting the Russians will provide the SAA infantry-based thermobaric weaponry to help clear our urban city centers).

Iran, Hezbollah:
• News everywhere of amassing ground forces. It seems that Iran and Hezbollah are going to commit larger forces in ground offensives orchestrated along Russian air strikes.
• Iran, under the cover of Russian air strikes, has managed to transfer mores weapons that were too hard to do with the threat of Israeli air strikes. This includes advanced anti-air missiles and converted SCUDs for anti-ship roles. [Source]
• Iran might be committing IRGC battalions in Syria and may be mulling the deployment of greater assets.
• Hezbollah counter-intelligence (or Syrian secret police) units may attempt to assassinate opposition rebel leadership being harbored in Jordan or Turkey. In the past an FSA commander was found murdered, Jordanian government claimed it was criminal and not politically motivated. Others claim it was an assassination. [Source]

Iraq:
• The US currently has a significant number of advisers in Iraq and specifically Baghdad. This includes AH-64 Apache gunships which turned back ISIL when it was about to descend on the capital. [Source]
• Iraq has consistently provided fuel and diesel to Syria as part of its struggle against ISIL. Both Iraq and Syria are plagued by ISIL and other dissident factions.
• Iraq may petition Russia to envelop Iraq in its air operation should events in Syria turn for the better. [Source]
• US support for Iraq is extend

Islamic State:

• Right now ISIL is reinforcing towns and cities under its control by constructing tunnels, reinforced foxholes, and other bunkers to ride out the Russian air strikes; much like the tactics used by Hezbollah in the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah. This is to preserve the manpower for any ground assaults. Expect multi-month sieges.
• Probably planning for some type of attack inside Russia proper as retaliation like those seen in Europe. Perhaps targeted on ambassadors or other dignitaries.
• Some forces have retreated to Turkey and Jordan until the situation dissipates.
• Might commit to a PR stunt such as bombing internationally protected civilian facilities like schools or hospitals and blame it on Russian air strikes. Remember the Chlorine gas attack which was immediately pinned on the Assad government, but both the UN and Russia proved was committed by the rebels in hopes of drawing foreign intervention. [Source]
• Convince Turkey to provide high-tech anti-air weaponry (Turkey has been proven to have direct talks to the leadership of ISIL) [Source]
• Human shields can possibly be used in some PR stunt.
• It seems that ISIL has been taken by surprise by the Russian air strikes. This means that the US has been purposely leaving them alone in certain areas.
• The current interim operating procedure for ISIL is to spot when Russian fighters take off from their base and begin warning units. So far it may involve “moving munitions 15 meters underground”, “moving tanks, cars, and cannons daily never leaving them in one spot”, “keeping your engines on at all times”, “be prepared to move at a moment’s notice”, “destroy sim cards of all ‘senior’ commanders”, “stay away from villages” [Source]

GCC-Supported Opposition ARMY OF CONQUEST (FSA & remnants of Al-Qaeda in Syria; Al-Nusra Front):
• These groups are seen as terrorists in the eyes of Russia and have been struck.
• A number of FSA fighters have already surrendered to the government and a larger number has already fled to Jordan thanks to the psychological impact of the Russian strikes.
• Fresh reinforcements, most likely thanks to Saudi Arabia and Qatari money, has arrived from the North Caucasus including Ukrainian specialists and experts (suggesting some new type of weapon system may be soon given to the opposition forces or targeted against the Russian forces in Syria). [Source]
• Right now the Army of Conquest is a conglomeration of forces which include various Islamist factions including Al-Nusra Front, and mercenary forces hired, trained, or supplied by the CIA, Turkey, GCC, or other Western-affiliated actors. They “fight alongside” the FSA. It fights against the Islamic State, Hezbollah, and the Syrian government. [Source]
• The FSA is rumored to be gone, just a media myth. The majority defecting to ISIL. There are only Islamists of varying shades. [Source]
• The Army of Conquest is being coordinated by commanders stationed in operation rooms sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and hosted in Jordan and Turkey, safe from Russian air strikes (for now….) [Source]

Arab Nations (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan):
• Saudi Arabia right now is being bogged down with its operations in Yemen. Iran may have tipped the scales by offering some sort of material support to the Shia-Houthis now engaged in fighting the Yemen government and its Saudi backers.
• Saudi Arabia is also trying to confront Iran in other proxy wars, including Iraq, Lebanon and potentially Bahrain.
• If the US doesn’t act in time Saudi Arabia will take it upon itself to finance some sort of attack on Russia either in Syria or somewhere. If this doesn’t materialize then Saudi Arabian capabilities are beyond incompetence.
• Qatar will be fronting the majority of the financing for the opposition forces. Qatar has always been the hotbed of international terrorist financing [Source]
• Jordan has been playing both sides. It assisted the US in training a proxy force which would cross from Jordan into Syria, but has also tipped off Syrian intelligence of these forces so they may be arrested or destroyed before doing harm. It has been trying to shift back to neutral. [Source]

Israel:
• Israel has been informed of the Russian air operation.
• Israel will not risk an air confrontation with Russia. After the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war, secretary-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah was giving a speech in Beirut right after the ceasefire as a show of solidarity with the people. Israel was denied the ability to launch an air strike assassination against this very important target due to the deployment of French Air Force fighter jets during his speech [Source]
• Israel has committed mock air attacks on UNIFIL before to trigger a response. It may commit the same action against Russian or Assad forces in a hope to draw out a reaction. [Source]
• A weakened Syrian state, now without large stockpiles of chemical weapons, may be forced to accept the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights.
• Israel will continue to provide medical aid to rebel and Islamist fighters in the Golan Height [Source]
• Israel claims it can overcome the S-300 and deal a marketing blow to Russia if it needs to strike targets inside Syria, such as weapon shipments to Hezbollah. [Source]

Turkey:
• Probably the biggest loser of the entire debacle. Not only is Assad going to remain standing but it looks like the Kurds will be in a better position to resist Turkey thanks to their quasi-state-like Kurdistan that intersects through Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.
• Wants a NATO or US-sponsored no-fly zone on its border with Syria to allow operations against the Kurds to remain unimpeded.
• Turkey, being denied further escalation against Syria, has used the Syrian refugee crisis as means to attack the EU by letting them pass through into EU proper.
• Turkey has had to deal with jihadis seeping over the border, with car bombs and other terrorist acts occurring throughout the country. If jihadis flee back into Turkey this could be more trouble.
• A ground invasion of Northern Syria to create a buffer zone for the opposition seems unlikely.
• Russia has accidentally strayed into Turkish air space for a few seconds, creating some chest-thumping by NATO [Source]
• US Patriot missiles mandate expires on October. Are they still in Turkey? [Source]
• The EU is currently working on a crisis plan with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees. [Source]

United States of America:
• The US currently has limited options to the Russian air strikes.
• The US still has a significantly larger air fleet in the region and has committed a ludicrous amount of airstrikes, drone strikes, missile strikes, and other strikes.
• It will suffer an international PR fiasco if Russia can restore some order in Syria within a few months. [Source]
• US along with its allies (perhaps Turkey and/or France) may attempt a ground operation in the North-East part of the country; perhaps to divide the country in some spring 1945 Berlin situation.
• The US can actively arm opposition forces with heavier weapons, risking their proliferation, to deny any Russian gains.
• The Ukrainian operation may be ramped up again.
• The US may be looking to accept any face-saving measure to get out of the Syrian mess seeing the red line the Russians have drawn in regards to Assad. Avoiding major conflicts with Russia as more important than pleasing the Saudis and their secret war against Iran.
• Currently the US and Russia are just starting to work on an agreement to coordinate air operations in Syria. [Source]
• Air strikes are still being commenced in Iraq against ISIL and Afghanistan against the Taliban.

• Chances are both the US and Russia are monitoring each other’s electronic emissions.

The Essential Saker II: Civilizational Choices and Geopolitics / The Russian challenge to the hegemony of the AngloZionist Empire

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Four Russian Navy warships have fired a total of 26 missiles at the position of the terrorist group Islamic State in Syria, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced. The missiles were fired from the Caspian Sea.
“Four missile ships launched 26 cruise missiles at 11 targets. According to objective control data, all the targets were destroyed. No civilian objects sustained damage,” Shoigu said.

The missiles flew some 1,500 km before reaching their targets, probing their efficiency.

One of the unintended consequences of Russia’s military action is exposing how stupid Kiev was claiming every five minutes they were fighting the Russian army and airforce. Also exposing the absurd attempts of msm journalists. I think many will see what has happened and grasp the fact that that if the Russians had entered it would have been over and out very quickly for the kiev junta. The west and nato is seething at this flexing of military muscle knowing that they have lost the plot/narrative big time here. Cruise missiles flying through iran and Iraq and hitting their terrorist targets, conveniently passing turkey, poetry in motion!

Yes, been the buzz for a few hours (everywhere except here in sleepy Sakerland) — basically a 26-missile birthday salute for Putin using equipment only ‘lawful’ if not launched on land from the only sea/lake that the US/Nato cannot have a boat in. Brilliant!

A couple more weeks then on into Iraq (by invitation) and Obama’s pivot out of the Middle east will be all but completed — with Putin’s boot-prints embossed on his backside to boot.

The degenerate Saudi regime are squealing all the way to market and it’s not hard to see why. Egypt’s SiSi and military are on side with the Russians, Yemen is a war-crimes mess and UN Human Rights a joke — and cracks in the US/Nato un-affordable facade are occurring with high ranking suggestions that the Obama Administration are funding ISIS.

What is not mentioned here is they took out some IS command bunkers with their advisors without any warning. The US just admitted that they have special forces observing IS.. So does the SAS of UK and Australia, all dressed up as IS.. Russia already gave warning so they could leave and I bet a lot of them have seeing the hysteria and the terrorists running for the hills after their commanders left for safer zones.. But I bet no one expected to get hit with millions dollar cruise missiles deep in IS held territory. Also the hysteria will run deeper now if any special forcers advisors were in those IS command bunkers…

Article is a good reason why when it comes to geopol news/events, I can barely stomach reading ZH for its time-wasting infotainment content, delivered smarmy smug style.
I see the root story of many of his articles on other websites between 2 & 10 days before it appears there.

Notice his inexcusable disgraceful slam against the SAA, as if they don’t exist & haven’t for eons?
In all that time, while they’ve been worked over from the air by the murderous ‘coalition’, almost a
quarter million dead & up to 1/3 of Syria’s civilians living as refugees.

The “frosting on the cake” in that linked Zero Hedge article is the “Clearing Way For Iran Ground Invasion” part. Love it. Upon which “… the entire campaign will shift to Iraq, where the US will either need to confront Russia or simply pack up and leave. …” Yes, we do live in interesting times.

Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, Levin. There’s a lot of people on the airwaves who are as brave. They are brave, and they are living it. I’ve met ‘em all; I’m friends with ‘em all. They are also operating against the grain in an America that needs to go back to that.

Yah, those are the real anti-establishment dissidents in Amerika. Real freedom fighters, every one.

I assumed it was clear from the context that the rudeness was directed at Drudge, the source of the quote. What else should one conclude about somebody who describes fascist scumbags such as those as “brave”, except that that person is also a fascist scumbag.

Keep your eye on Erdogan: He has royally p-ssed off the Kurds within Turkey and now the jihadis will flee back over into Turkey to cause mayhem there. He is up for power renewal Nov 1st so he may try to play the US like the Saudis do in which case things will get very nasty .

The “we have good relationship with Russia” is a diplomatic deception like Hitler had good relationship with Stalin: he is playing a very dangerous double game but he thinks he is up to it because he is blinded by his arrogance. Hubris follows arrogance like winter follows Fall.

This situation just highlights the stupidity of the western game plan.

This has always been about natural gas lines through Syria into the southern EU.

The west needed to distract Russia with the debacle in the Ukraine to prevent her from being able to respond in Syria adequately.

That effort failed abysmally.

Syria is a Russian vassal state. From the beginning of this effort the endgame was ALWAYS you must be prepared to fight the Russians in Syria to achieve your goal. If you are not prepared for that eventuality, then your plan was doomed from the start.

Russian CANNOT allow Middle East natural gas to flow into the EU. The only thing keeping the Russians relevant geo-politically are their a) Nukes and b) EU reliance on Russian natural gas.

So since the Ukraine “force Russia to fight on two fronts” plan just crashed and burned, you now have to either fight them directly in Syria or tuck your tail and go home leaving the Middle East to the Russians.

We obviously will not abandon our gulf allies in the region, so at this point it is only a matter of time before we start shooting Russians and Iranians.

The US will cut and run but there is one thing that I have no answer for. If Russia settles in the ME, Saudi Arabia and Qatar will have to play nice since it will become obvious that the US cannot and will not help them. So two things happen. Either they drop the dollar, or regime change and then they drop the dollar. Either way the petrodollar is finished. What does the US intend to do about this and how far are they willing to go? I honestly don’t have any sort of answer for this situation.

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Wed, 10/07/2015 – 09:29 | 6639200 flapdoodle
flapdoodle’s picture

The *really* big problem with the US Deep State is the following:

1) The US Dollar as World Reserve Currency is based on, well, the fact that it is the WRC. The “faith” the rest of the world invests in the Dollar is only backed by momentum – and the perceived preeminence of the US armed forces.

2) Just as the first Iraqi war was seminal in the fall of the Soviet Union IMHO when the world (and particularly the Soviet military analysts) were able to see the overwhelming technical superiority of the US smart weapons and the ease with with the US disposed of Saddam’s huge standing army (breaking the illusion that the Soviet Union was a superpower on the par with the US), the move into Syria by Russia by the invitation of the legal government of Syria is in my opinion just as historic and seminal, the bell weather for a major sea-change in the the power structure of the world.

3) Russia in Syria has, at least in its first appearances, greatly neutralized ISIS, which was touted as a huge almost invincible juggernaut, putting on a clinic of technical prowess and coordination almost comparable to the US effort in Iraq 1.

4) The paradigm of the all powerful US military has taken a big hit, if not by its lack of technical superiority (the F35 fiasco does not inspire confidence in US technical capability), but by its intentions, will, and compentence. the MSF hospital in Kunduz fiasco in juxaposition with the well planned Russian strikes against ISIS (which the US supposedly has been attacking for 13 months), raises the question: if you needed someone to protect you, do you trust the Russian military or the US military?

5) The above question is a fatal doubt intruding into the all powerful US paradigm – if the Saudis and other important players (Germany!) start to question US power and cozy up to the Russians, the US petrodollar is done for, and with it US dollar as WRC – the US as a nation will start an inevitable slide into third world status if that occurs. Imagine what happens for example if the US has to pay its military budget from actual assets or savings rather than just print dollars it needs to buy the hugely expensive F35 or send billions to Israel…

6) What gives pause are what the US might do about what has just happened in Syria. The most rabid neocons may push the US into a poorly thought out confrontation, and get us all killed in the worst case.

7) Whatever response the US tries will not change the death of the US Dollar as WRC. The only question is how soon it will be cast aside (and my gut tells me it will be relatively soon, regardless of how “oversubscribed” dollar denominated debt is to the actual number of dollars in circulation)

The dollar is the reserve currency because that’s what OPEC demands in exchange for oil. The moment this changes, the only momentum behind the dollar will be the containers full of dollars flung back to the US.

Right snd OPEC demands $’s because they don’t want to get bombed, etc. It’s military force, or death controls as Radical would say, enforcing dollar acceptance. When the threat is no longer believable, countries will be free to dump the dollar and stop paying the imperial tax.

No. The dollar is the WRC and maintains that status because BANKERS structure and denominate financial markets around USD hegemony and complementary (arbitrageable) currencies. If the 6 largest oil traders in Geneva changed the preferred denomination of their PAPER oil contracts to EUR, CNY, or basket tomorrow, the impact on WRC would be orders of magnitude larger than ANYTHING that OPEC ministers could ever do.

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Wed, 10/07/2015 – 10:05 | 6639457 Omen IV
Omen IV’s picture

you give no value to Iran in your analysis –

the Russian weapons and tactics coupled in a few weeks with Iran on the ground with Soleimani leading will tell SA – its over – from Iran to Libya will potentially be at peace – if the SA fuck around they will be taken out – The Princes want Mansions in London / Paris / LA with binders full of women and Ferrari’s – they are lovers not warriors

we will have Iraq firmly under Iran control with the Kurds with their own land driving Erdogan crazy and the USA Fucking the world somewhere else

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Wed, 10/07/2015 – 10:17 | 6639513 BarkingCat
BarkingCat’s picture

We don’t want to see Russia become dominant and US collapse.
What we want is at least one more equal power to keep the children in check.
That is exactly what those psychopaths in government are – children. They sure behave like it.”””””

Hmmmm….maybe this is why Nutty was in such a tizzy these past 2 weeks.

Maybe when Putin told him he’d clean up Syria in record time, he meant or inferred the Golan, too?

I always figured Nutty would be the prima donna candidate to accelerate this crisis further & faster along to its appointed conclusion ca NOV 30, so watch out for another Wile E. Coyote moment from him sooon.

The Syrian Arab Army’s 90th Brigade – in coordination with Fouj Al-Joulan (Golan Regiment) and Liwaa Suqour Al-Quneitra (Al-Quneitra Hawks Brigade) of the National Defense Forces (NDF) – have launched a counter-attack in the Golan Heights after the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) took control of the strategic hilltop of Tal Al-Ahmar.

Let me se if I can get this right? We have country A which officially claims that it is “fighting” a war against terrorists (which by the way it has created it self in the first place) but doesn’t want to bomb because of the following logic “yes they are bad but Assad is worse” and then we have country B which states it will fight terrorism and is actually doing what it says ,on the very invitation of the host country (whit in the boundaries of international law) which is plagued by the same terrorists threat, that country A is both supporting and “fighting” against simultaneously!? (now how this is possible I really don’t know?) Country A is opposed to the idea that country B is willing to help in the fight against the terrorists in a mutually beneficial joint venture. Country A is against this very same joint effort whit country B, because country B wants to fight even the terrorists that country A considers to be the “good terrorists” depending on whom they are fighting against? Now if you didn’t understand a word of what I just said, that is perfectly all right, because I didn’t understand it my self either? But this is about the closest that I could interpret Washington’s policy stance on Syria these days.

You pretty much nailed it. The western narrative doesn’t make sense at all, and it doesn’t make sense because it’s nothing but a bunch of lies. That’s the power of Truth, you see? When Truth is able to shine, no amount of lies can obfuscate it.

That’s what Russia is doing right now, not by words but by deeds: they’re exposing the lie, which is butt-naked at the moment. That’s why almost nobody in the western world – those with more than two brain cells, that is – are buying the propaganda the West is still desperately trying to peddle.

I don’t know if you guys watched the latest episode of Cross Talk, but there’s one guy there pushing the nonsense that Russia is bombing the ‘wrong terrorists,’ and that Assad is evil incarnate, no wonder why Peter Lavelle lost his temper with him. Peter’s reaction is totally justifiable; even when found out, these type of people just can’t give up, can they?
It’s like discovering someone right in the act, still with his arm up to his elbow in the cookie jar, and you ask them: are you stealing cookies? “NO! Of course not!” They’ll answer to your face.
It’s funny when kids do that, but it’s not funny at all when adult psychopaths do it.

PS; if you do click on the article and scroll down to the comments you will see that public opinion overwhelmingly supports Russia, this is happening in most news papers comment sections that I monitored so far, even the Guardian.

For more than a year, the United States has been playing patty-cake with an army of homicidal maniacs who call themselves ISIS. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he’d had enough of Washington’s song-and-dance and was planning to bring a little Russian justice to the terrorist militias that had killed 225,000 Syrians and ripped the country to shreds. In language that could not be more explicit, Putin said to the General Assembly: “We can no longer tolerate the currents state of affairs in the world”. Less than 48 hours later, Russian bombers were raining down precision-guided munitions on terrorist strongholds across western Syria sending the jihadi vermin scrambling for cover.

That’s how you fight terrorism if you’re serious about it. Bravo, Putin.

I think you are right about the shift in public opinion. The popular grassroots Republican – mainly neocon – website “Free Republic” has been flooded with pro-Putin comments since the Syrian intervention – a sharp change from the overwhelming Putin-hate usually on display there.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko spoke out strongly against the establishment of a Russian air base in his country, less than a month after Russian officials presented it as a done deal.
———————————————————————————————————

Is somebody going to comment on this ???

I mean, I suspected this for a long time. Russia has no allies in Europe. But this is clearly a treason!!! Lukashenko go to hell!!!

The sad thing is, even though hes doing this, Lukashenko is still a potential target for US regime change. The American empire doesn’t really reward people who switch sides to join them, and still regards them as threats.

Its a shame that for whatever reason Lukashenko doesn’t understand this.

Hi Scott, then my earlier comment is less relevant.
Although you have to admit that what I wrote was confirmed many times on TASS and RIA / now Sputnik.

Attention, while all you said looks correct only one general reminder: My own website also ran on Amazon AWS for a few years, hosted in the US by a UNIX friend who pays the fees to help the Solaris community.
Now he switched the provider to something cheaper, I don’t even know which and what and how much he pays for it.

So such IPv4 addresses belonging to a certain ISP located in a certain country currently linked to by a specific DNS – such ISP’s, hosters and registrars can often be located in the US, UK, mainland-EU, NewZealand, Australia. But this alone doesn’t necessarily make it a Soros site.
Not everybody has the luck to live in Russia and still is may not be a bad person. Maybe in this case yes, but be careful with implying/deriving random concusions from this.
The cheapest easiest way to run a website with high RAS (ReliabilityAvailabilityServicability) plus cheap basic price tags plus cheap bandwidth volumes forces anybody to simply start by running his site on something like AWS/EC2.

“””””Open Society Foundations, formerly the Open Society Institute, is an international grantmaking network founded by progressive-liberal business magnate George Soros.”””””

I only wanted to point out that Amazon AWS EC2 aka “the cloud” has nothing to do with the content hosted or who is the hoster. AWS simply privides small VM’s (mostly LinUX, but Solaris would also run [has once been ported to this proprietary VM architecture]) that can be bought by anyone who then hosts whatever he likes for as long as he keeps paying the bills. It doesn’t even need to be a html web page, but whatever other UNIX/LinUX server process he likes to run, be it only sshd or ntp or hg, svn, git or even vintage (vulnerable) protocols like old ftp or telnet if he is crazy enough.

Therefore also certainly some fellow pro-Russian sites might run on AWS. That’s the only point I wanted to emphazise to make it clearer to those who never heard of AWS, ah, nevermind.

Lukashenko is playing such games for years already. When I first saw this at first I was extremely disappointed (I still am, but I no longer look up to Lukashenko in the first place). Among other things he claimed and repeatedly told western MSM, that Yanukovich financed the RightSector in Ukraine prior to Maidan etc and that he simply harvested his own seeds – bad luck for him, no US-involvement blah kotz.

Also he fooled Russia trying to circumvent Russian import restrictions towards Ukraine and later also EU in exchange for financial benefits. Also the entire thing is like a decades old cat and mouse catch, or like the eternal unsuccessful longings to date a Diva-princess:

“””””After Vladimir Putin took office he expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the status of the relations with Belarus and criticized the 1999 treaty, the policy he had set was to put real content into this treaty. His proposal was to continue in the unification either in a federation model which meant that Belarus would join the Russian Federation or build a union which is similar to the European Union. However, Belarus refused and status quo was maintained.[5] “””””

I think few if any other leaders in history of this world are as forgiving, calm, patient, respectful and well-intended as Vladimir Putin.

“””””Lukashenko is intentionally and deliberately playing the role of clown and diversion. He is there to saw confusion into the minds of Russia’s enemies.

People with any kind of experience in IR should know this.”””””

Well, that’s always the question: Who and what is for real, truthful and genuine versus just a staged show run by puppet masters. What’s for real then at all?? You? Myself? Putin? Obama?
Or is it all only simply a staged show for those with “any kind of experience in IR should know this” ????

I hope you are right here and I really would like to believe in Lukashenko. But in case of Lukashenko one should always we prepared to get disappointed from what I saw so far.
He wants to stay in power and “important”. This seems to be more important to him than the well-being of BelaRus. Otherwise he would have joined the RF one and a half decades ago.

@ eimar It is good to hear such things from your friends there and it is good that you have such friends. But their statements only reflect their personal views (except for what they say about media coverage).

If we are dealing with such a level of individuals’ views: Last week I chatted with a young mother from Minsk and our discussion ended when I started to defend DonBass and came with Cassad and Soviet songs. She _personally_ has already been re-programmed by Hollywood style brainwashers.
As BelaRus has 9,4 million citizens we would have a long evening talking about everybody’s personal perceptions.

However – I never said Lukashenko is evil or a 2nd Pornoshenkel. All I said was: I find it hard to trust him blindly 100%, what I feel I can do with Putin, but certainly not in case of Lukashenko.

Nevertheless, one of the many good things in BelaRus that I like most is, that they almost like PMR still have their Soviet coat of Arms:

In 2009, a serious diplomatic row erupted between the two countries. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko accused Russia of offering a $500 million loan on the condition that Belarus recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but added that the position of Belarus was not for sale. Lukashenko has declared that Belarusian citizens must abide by Georgian laws when traveling to the two regions, and the Foreign Ministry has stated that all Belarusian citizens must use points of entry on the Georgian side. Lukashenko declared that instead of Russia, Belarus should “look for happiness in other parts of the planet”. Commenting on the close military cooperation between the two countries, Lukashenko likened Belarus’ 10 million people as a human shield for Russia against the West, a service that he said “was not free”.[7] In July 2009, the so-called Milk War erupted, when Russia banned all dairy imports from Belarus, saying that they did not comply with new regulations. Belarus accused Russia of employing the ban for political reasons, while Russia denied that the ban was political. Russia soon lifted the ban and Belarus resumed deliveries of dairy products to Russia. However, a new dispute arose when Russia claimed that Belarus owed $231 million for gas supplies it had used since the start of the year. Belarus threatened to introduce Border and Customs control on its border with Russia, and refused to attend Collective Security Treaty Organization talks in Moscow. In an interview, President Lukashenko questioned the necessity of diplomatic relations with Russia, since Russia is “blockading” Belarus.”””””

1.The missiles from the Caspian Sea.And the stellar job done so far with the Russian airstrikes.Have benefits on 2 score.One,it lets the Russian military see how well their new weapons perform in a real war situation (so far excellently).And two (and maybe most importantly) it lets NATO,the EU,and Russia’s other enemies,i.e.the junta.And her friends,i.e. China and Iran,see the same thing.Sending terror through one set,and hope and joy through the other.

2.According to RT,”Iran’s supreme leader bans new negotiations with US”.He see’s that the US is still not in any way a friend of Iran’s.And that they use the “negotiations” as a spying tactic.

3.Now for the bad news.I think we can see now what Israel is up to,and why.RT is reporting the Israelis announce a huge oil field discovered in the Golan Heights (yes,the Israeli occupied,Syrian owned Golan).I figure the Israelis have either known,or strongly suspected for years the oil field was there.And their dealings with the jihadis to destroy Syria has a lot to do with that.An ousted Assad,and powerless Syria,gives them free reign to steal Syria’s land and resources.So now we can clearly see why Israel won’t give up on ISIS.Or make an accommodation of any kind with Iran and Hezbollah.

Ft Russ report: It is increasingly clear that Russia has a tradition proud, professional military whereas the US has an opportunist, sycophant, political-minded top brass. Sad in a way. No soldier deserves to serve under incompetent command.

Having just read a post by Andre Vltchek, author, historian, film-maker, who wrte on what has happened to each nation the uS has fought, I cannot see America ever being a stable partner of Russia, never. It’s ethos is purely genocidal from the very beginning of the European influx into America. With more wealth and European cover as if the US is truly international, using the atom bombs that may never be used, it now leads the world closer to extinction than any time in the past.
Yet, the expectation the US is a normal country. It is not. Vltchek proves it. Easy to do just look at everything the US orders all to erase. It’s next work is to erase Russia.

The commentary by so-called ‘John Rambo’ is useful, as an outline for analysis of the world political struggle. The participating commentary also helps to flesh out the outline.

*The Key point to be understood is that this week’s events in Syria represent a truly Revolutionary departure from previous history, and are as significant as the Russian Army counterattack in front of Moscow in 1941-42, or, as the Coup D’etat in Dallas was for the American People.

1. The Russian Air Force is leading a multi-faceted counter-attack against the counter-revolutionary imperialist armed forces of the Zionist, American, Anglo, French, and Turkish, and other puppet terrorist nations. Is that clear enough for you? Do I have to translate it to English?

The Russian leaders were denied (by the imperialists) any sort of reasonable, believable, enforceable, deal to allow the continued sovereignty of Syria. The Russians were not even allowed a renewed assurance of an old (broken) promise that the sovereignty and national honor of the Russian people would be respected. The Zionist American NATO are constructing military bases in the tiny Baltic imperialist puppet States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which is as close to a declaration of war against Russia as one can devise, without America’s College History Professors taking their eyes off their young male students long enough to notice.

2. As the Zionist American controlled media insisted that the ISIS and other groups were Terrorists without any organic links to them, the Russia leaders were presented with an opportunity to blast the crap out of them without directly triggering a full World War.

As an analogy, you hit a lad in the nose, and, as he bleeds he insists that it is not his nose, and therefore, “no damage done.” Next, you hit him in the mouth, and the lad claims, “It is not my mouth that is bleeding. No harm done to me. But you should ask permission before hitting this person again, just in case you hit – me by accident.” Some Americans (average IQ -28) – actually believe this shit.

Although the imperialists were forced to pretend; “that didn’t hurt;” they did attempt to ask the Russians to halt their bombing (there are numerous links to whining articles in the NYT, BBC, Huffington Post, and so many other prostitute media, to document that).

3. The War Is On!!! The ISIS, and the other terrorist alphabet groups are Them. Let us make that crystal clear to all we communicate with. It is Them. They are the enemy. We must identify them, including their commanders, the Rothschilds, Bushs, Clintons, McCains, including their stooges, Obombers, Sanders, Kerrys, et. al..

Video Producer/Director
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The Central Intelligence Agency seeks a highly motivated employee for the position of Producer/Director. If selected, you will be responsible for helping chart the creative direction to meet the needs of continuously evolving business areas. You will work closely with customers to create finished intelligence videos used for the briefing of senior government officials and for dissemination.You will become part of a team of dedicated officers who produce high quality video products for a wide range of Agency customers. ……

My guess is that the “product” offered for sale to the “undercover agents” was supplied to the duped sellers by the FBI, the sale was arranged by the FBI, and the undercover agents were also FBI. That’s how they do it here in the U.S. The duped guys are usually chosen for their media value, so some old former KGB guy would fill the bill, since everything, now, is designed to vilify Russia/Putin.

They’ve been producing this little dramatic vignette ever since 9/11 to make sure we USers don’t forget that “the Muslims” hate us for our freedoms and want to kill us. This is just a variation on the theme. Do they really think we don’t recognize it? It’s what they do.

Iran! Everyone acknowledges that for final victory to be achieved ground mark forces have to participate. This is a sensitive issue for Russia due to the danger of kidnappings, death that could change opinion at home. Iraq s and Syria s forces are rather in disarray due to the prolonged conflict. In this case, It is important intervention of fresh well organized military and here Iran can play a very important role I think. This will pull the morale of the rest (Iraq, Syria s army) no doubt. Iran, Hezbollah will play a very important role I think.

Hi, John Rambo. CIA? Or some other letter set? Excuse me for not reading past the poor US unable to fight ISIS for a year. Are you not aware that the US cover has been blown to smithereens and the egg on the face of the west will still be there for generations to come?

First off the CIA doesn’t pay that well, its all about the private sector these days. Secondly I have no idea what you’re trying to get at. Are you implying my sitrep is pro-USA?

And you have to give the US credit where its due.

The US excels at marketing. Kids today genuinely believe that the US invasion of Iraq and its subsequent chaos is an IMPROVEMENT to the days of Saddam (because the media won’t tell them what it was like during the days of Saddam, with free health care, free post-secondary education, and stipends on food and gas).

The US can easily spin and market and Hollywood its way out of a lot of the things it does. To underestimate this….. just take a look at how many kids today believe that the US liberated Europe and not the USSR (thanks to Hollywood and films like Saving Private Ryan, series like Band of Brothers, etc.).

You think movies like 9th Company or series like Shtrafbat reaches the Western (or even international) audience?

Egg on the face for generations to come you say? Just like the embarrassment of finding no WMDs in Iraq. How long did that “egg on the face” last before the PR spin kicked in and confused the newer generation of kids today. Tonkin incident? You can barely find anyone who understands those events and the false pretext for the US escalation in the Vietnam war.

The Korean War is the forgotten war in the US for a reason. Did they even make a movie about that stalemate war? Of course not, no need to remind people….

Generations to come… please. One good commercial and a movie (like Zero Dark Thirty) and they would have re-written the entire narrative for the next incoming generation.

Dear John, your words:
“ISIL is not a stupid player in this conflict. The Islamic State has been able to fool the US into providing weapons and training for the jihad for quite some time. ISIL has also endured a year of strikes from the US and its Arab partners, sometimes averaging to a dozen strikes a day. There have been more bombs dropped on ISIL in the past year than the 5 years in Afghanistan.”
This leads me to believe you are indeed pro-USA, and if you are not in someone’s pay, I wonder what motivates you to produce such a prodigious amount of up to date information that leads one this way and that, but not to the essential point: which is that the western power is not really interested in what ignorant children are thinking, but very interested in what “educated” adults in other places are thinking. And it is to these “educated” adults, such as national politicians and businessmen, that its propaganda is aimed. As it was for example in Russia during the shock therapy of the 1990’s. Well, those educated adults just got a real education.
Thank you for excusing me.

I noticed that slant in JR’s commentary as well. It’s been understood now for a long time that “Muslim terrorism” is an Israeli-American well honed proxy fighting force. The pretense of an America fighting this or being duped is one of the zio-lib (and zio-“left”) misdirection PR strategies intended to dupe people about who these terrorists work for and hide Israeli-American control of these terrorists.

JR

You claim the Korean War is the forgotten war and no films were about it. I’m guessing you must be rather young. Look up MASH, a popular milestone anti war film and also a long running TV series of the Korean War.

Duh- the reason the US strikes on ISIS were ineffective is either the US did not mean for them to be effective or air strikes w/o human intel is bullcrap. What the Russians have which the US doesn’t is the military intelligence capabilites of the Syrian Arab Army and Air Force. You have to have people on the ground that know where the real shxt is.

“The president is reported to be celebrating his birthday in a rather reserved manner, spending it as just another day at work. However, he does have plans to play some hockey with famous veteran hockey players and members of the Night Hockey League later today [..]”

Q; I know this is natural in a brutal war, but I want the SAA/Russia and allies to simply steamroll over the NATO-backed jihadis.

R; In a fluid, asymmetrical warfare scenario, as can be seen in the Syrian ToO today, there is no such thing as the one golden move that takes care of everything. Aerial bombardment may be very destructive and deadly, but it still needs boots on the ground to weed whack out the surviving perps.

That will take time and more lives [on both sides].

But the Wahhabi sponsored, human organs eating, black clad death squads are now running around with a bull’s eye on their back.. and they know it, becasue scores of them have died already and more will follow them on that dreaded path to martyrdom.

The ship’s sinking, just watch the rats flee back home, where they’ll become another nemesis of Europe’s endeavors abroad; aka backfire big time.

Mr Orange repeats the Bashar-must-go meme.
(What do the Syrians want? That’s immaterial to Mr Orange. Not least because he’s a slow-boiling frog.)

Twerkel pours gasoline on the flames of the immigration onslaught by advocating for ‘open borders’. Nevermind that the policy was only intended originally for citizens of the EU zone, not hordes of unemployed males from the chaos of the ‘stans and M.E. Not to mention the fleeing jihadis from the Russian surge in Syria.

I can only assume the Israeli Zionists have insisted, a swap of European Jews (they are desperate to bump up the Zionist demographic in Israel) for hordes of displaced Iraqis, Syrians (and who knows where else) force on Europe. They are claiming they have no room for fleeing Syrians, while going on an all out drive to attract Jewish immigrant settlers and genociding the Palestinians.

I see a strong possibility of both Ziostooges assassinated in the future: they have alienated so many and been party to the virtual collapse of Greece and the destruction of Syria. As for the sheer scale of chaos under their watch in the Ukraine…

Indeed, it may very well be their Zio string-pullers who ‘arrange’ their unnatural end. If an embittered jihadist or terror-cell doesn’t get them first. Enemies on all sides, thanks to their greed and hubris.

Should it come to pass, none will mourn. They are a truly despicable pair.

“They couldn’t care less, it happened with us in Salala a couple of years ago, in which they bombed one of our military posts, and it was going on for nearly two or three hours. We were calling them every five minutes and telling them, you’re hitting the wrong target, and they couldn’t care less.”

“That’s their attitude, their imperial hubris, they couldn’t care about killing any non-American at all.”

October 07, 2015 – 17:20
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Baghdad, Russia’s ally in its fight against ISIL, wants Russia to have a bigger role in the anti-terrorist campaign in Iraq than the US, and may soon officially request to start airstrikes on its soil, the chairman of Iraqi parliament’s defense committee said.

“We might be forced to ask Russia to launch airstrikes in Iraq soon. I think in the upcoming few days or weeks Iraq will be forced to ask Russia to launch airstrikes and that depends on their success in Syria,” said Hakim al-Zamili on Wednseday, Russia Today reported.

“We are seeking to see Russia having a bigger role in Iraq… Yes, definitely a bigger role than the Americans,” Zamili said.

ROME (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in his strongest message to date, said Wednesday the U.S.-led coalition will not agree to cooperate with Russia in the fight against the Islamic State and no collaboration is possible as long as Moscow continues to strike other targets.

He said the U.S. will limit its discussions with Russia to basic, technical talks about efforts to ensure that flights over Syria are conducted safely and, “That’s it.”

“Despite what the Russians say, we have not agreed to cooperate with Russia, so long as they continue to pursue mistaken strategy and hit these targets,” Carter told reporters during a news conference in Rome with Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti.

I think that is best for Russia.Russia will be able to constantly shame the US over that.The US will get no credit for Russia’s successful strikes.And if any are unsuccessful they will be able to say “well if the US was co-operating on fighting the terrorists it would be better”.And it clearly shows to the World, the US opposes destroying ISIS.So all in all,that is best for Russia.

– Authorities in Germany are deliberately keeping quiet about crimes occurring in refugee shelters, especially those involving brutality against women[* yeah… I’m sure women deserve that /end sarc. What was it that someone called it; ‘Karma‘? /end sarcasm again – * My comment I], as the country’s policy of taking in asylum-seekers and providing them with sustenance and a monthly stipend has enraged many, who see the massive influx of young, mostly male Muslims as a threat –

Germany is failing to control rampant crime among its new refugee population, but authorities are afraid to disclose the matter to the press. The influx has already enraged many ordinary Germans, who made their opinions known in Dusseldorf and other cities for the first time last year during anti-Islamisation protests [* yeah, because apparently; if you’re agianst the raping, battering and general physical assault against women, you’re an islamophobe nowadays… * My comment II]”

“[..] Adult men account for almost three fourths of all asylum seekers in Germany; women and children account for the remaining fourth. Women, who comprise the minority, often become victims of an increasing number of crimes, especially sexual assault, rape and, reportedly, forced prostitution as a recent open letter signed by several charities suggests, according to Reuters.

In Hamburg, eight cases of sexual assault in refugee camps have been confirmed this year; there the, Green Party’s spokesperson for refugee affairs Tuelin Akkoc sees that right-wing political groups may use such reports to play the xenophobia card and try to turn public opinion against refugees [..]”

Thankyou so much john rambo for a brilliant & enormously insightful sitrep, totally on the ball from beginning to end, a delight to read, although the many pitfalls outlined provide much cause for caution,

“The United States should threaten to retaliate if Russia does not stop attacking U.S. assets in Syria, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote in a Financial Times op-ed published Sunday, urging “strategic boldness,” with American credibility in the Middle East and the region itself at stake.

Moscow’s apparent decision to strike non-Islamic State targets and those of Syrian rebels backed by the Central Intelligence Agency “at best” reflects “Russian military incompetence,” and worst, “evidence of a dangerous desire to highlight American political impotence,” wrote Brzezinski, [..]”

“And if Russia continues to pursue non-ISIL targets, the U.S. should retaliate, he added. “In these rapidly unfolding circumstances the U.S. has only one real option if it is to protect its wider stakes in the region: to convey to Moscow the demand that it cease and desist from military actions that directly affect American assets,” he said [..]

In his comment on the mass shootings at the Oregon community college, President Obama said: “This has become routine.”

“[..] Also routine is Washington’s obliteration of weddings, funerals, and medical centers with bombs and drones. Two days after Obama expressed his despair, frustration and anger over the Oregon mass shootings, a US air strike hit a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. According to numerous news reports, at least 19 [* sorry to say; it’s up to 22 now] people were killed, including 12 members of Doctors Without Borders, and another 37 wounded. The US air strike killed one person on the operating table, and intensive care patients burned to death in their beds.

For Washington, these mass murders are only “collateral damage,” nothing warranting a presidential statement displaying despair, anger, and frustration.

Obama says he can do nothing about mass shootings, but he could certainly call off his illegal wars and deep-six his reckless and coercive approach toward Russia before we are incinerated. As Vladimir Putin said at the UN, “We [meaning Russia] can no longer tolerate the state of affairs in the world.”

Putin does not lie. When he says something, he means it.

Somebody in Washington had better listen to this man, because Washington is no longer The Unipower. There are now three superpowers—Russia, China, and the US—and probably in that order [..]”

I love Roseburg. I took my little horse to California long ago and we stayed overnight in Roseburg…One of the happiest days of my life. Yeah, I love cowboys…except when they kick the bulls…that’s cruel and should be stopped.

ISIS Is one of American’s covert terrorist allies–not much different from the precious “moderate” jihadists/rebels that American lovingly coddles.

America’s entire “War on Terrorism” is a Nazi-style Big Lie since 9-11, which was the oh-so-convenient Reichstag Fire event to launch what is in fact a grab for American global dominance that surpasses the Nazi Third Reich in its ambitions.

Anybody that doesn’t question America’s phony War on Terrorism is completely missing–or covering up–the fundamental reality of what America and its terrorist allies (like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Israel) are guilty of around the world.

Q; The US may be looking to accept any face-saving measure to get out of the Syrian mess seeing the red line the Russians have drawn in regards to Assad.

R; A/ny real and serious fighter comes well prepared in/to a ring. Once in it, s/he’ll have no time to play around with brushes and/or pencils. Russia doesn’t keep its heater holstered, it shoots at whatever moves in the designated ‘Free Terrorist Maneuver Zone.’

” Generations to come… please. One good
commercial and a movie (like Zero Dark Thirty)
and they would have re-written the entire
narrative for the next incoming generation.”

Who will be watching Kardashian’s Ass (Redux) anyway. Or the horror show that is Daddy Kardashian’s ‘transitioned’ fundament.

They don’t matter.

The one’s who do (and where challenge to the status quo will most likely emanate) will be hip to exactly such manipulations. They’re already hacking the NSA and watching Jap anime/Korean soaps – not Zero Dark Thirty . Hollywood is so passe.

But right now, they’re watching ‘From Russia With Love’ on the net. Even the pacifists.

” Russia has the option to punish Turkey for its support in allowing ISIL to use its borders by discretely (or overtly) aiding the Kurds; as the Kurds have been a US ally since the Iraq invasion in 2003 the US can’t overtly denounce the aid.”

I guess I don’t know enough history to understand this. I didn’t know the Kurd were a US ally

” Convince Turkey to provide high-tech anti-air weaponry (Turkey has been proven to have direct talks to the leadership of ISIL)”

May Ergodan rot in hell forever – I think the only other leader of the world’s poison-filled snakes that I feel the same about is Merkel…May Merkel rot in hell forever. Actually I don’t see Obama in the same class as these two…I don’t know why not, but perhaps Obama is actually a goody-goody just doing his bosses’ orders. The other two actually have venom.

“Chances are both the US and Russia are monitoring each other’s electronic emissions”

Not a good sign for the future of our world. But hopefully US is only a bully…not a real fighter..

Dear John Rambo, thanks for very interesting sitrep. I found your writing to be very knowledgeable about war so I assume you are a military person. Thanks so much for the time it took to write it.

I wish sometimes that, above the sitreps, we could be informed about the person who is the writer. Perhaps in your next sitrep you would tell a little about yourself, if I’m not asking too much.

Perhaps if you are a retired soldier the commenters that are saying you are pro-US would grow up a bit.

Now they’re all going to think I’m CIA because I like you and your sitrep. Thank God Scott also liked it, being the Master Sitrep Producer and Director of Operations in Research he at least is a pillar of strength.

OT but very funny from an article on ICH about ‘silliness’ Charlie Rose interview with President Putin.

Charlie also seemed astonished to learn that the Russians might actually have been aware of what Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland and her friends were up to in Ukraine when they initiated their program of regime change, so Putin spelled it out for him: “We have thousands of contacts with them [the Ukrainians]. We know who and where, and when they met with someone, and who worked with those who ousted Yanukovych, how they were supported, how much they were paid, how they were trained, where, in which country, and who those instructors were. We know everything.” This resulted in a voice-over from Charlie, correcting the narrative, as it were: “For the record, the U.S. has denied any involvement in the removal of the Ukrainian leader.”

“Rambo” wrote:
‘Morale has been an all-time low amongst the Syrian Arab Army and Hezbollah forces deployed in Syria.’

I’m glad to inform you, mr.Rambo, that this is not true at all, particularly in the case of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been fighting very successfully in Syria – in a limited fashion – since 2013. Their morale is the highest.
The most reliable sources I’ve found state Hezb has not deployed more than 5-6,000 troops to Syria, and often less than that.
This is the most probable, given Hezbollah’s small population base and the need to keep most of its men in Lebanon keeping an eye on the israelis and the waahabi gangs already infiltrated in sunni areas of lebanon.

The morale of the Syrian army and syrian paramilitaries seem to be generally good too, according even to sources hostile to Syria who have been recently(but before the russian airstrikes) to the country such as the BBC and R.Fisk, who visited the frontlines several times since 2012.
This BBc correspondent in Jobar(Sept.2015) states the syrian soldiers are motivated and disciplined and know what they r doing. He also reveals the syrian army/paramilitaries are also using tunnels of their own.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps_uaCmnL-8

I believe the main people who will be doing most of the ground fighting, supported by the russian airstrikes, will be the same people who have been doing most of the fighting since the beginning of this forced proxy war on Syria; the Syrian regular army and paramilitaries. The Russians know they have a strong partner on the ground, the syrian army.

Iran may yet send an expeditionary force, but i doubt if it would be large; for one thing, to deploy a large force to Syria would be pretty expensive.
I also doubt Hezbollah will play a much larger role than it has already for the simple reason that although they are formidable fighters, they r a relatively small force.
There appears, however, to be an increase in the numbers of iraqi shia volunteers, trained by Iran, deploying to Syria.
Time will tell.

Hezbollah is only deployed in areas that are close to the Lebanese border. It’s sort of a “responsibility sharing” scheme. Most of Hezbollahs battles have been directly adjacent to Lebanon. Such as Al-Qusayr, Homs, Rif Dimashq and of course inside Lebanon proper. The furthest Hezbollah forces have ever gone is to Aleppo but that’s due to the fact Aleppo has been an on-off battle for nearly three years. Even then it was just north of Lebanon and not far east.

As for the manpower Hezbollah has, I doubt there are more than 3000 deployed at any given one time inside Syria. 3000 men is a brigade-strength unit. They are an irregular force which have been documentated augmenting militia forces and other irregular units within Syria and used for very irregular missions. Their steadfastness, experience, and training gives them an edge.

However we’re talking about four and a half years of war. For Hezbollah its been a little over 2 years. Without the Russian air intervention where would victory be coming from? What would change the tide? Because 2 years back Assad assumed Hezbollah would be able to do that for him. And here we are today… morale was becoming a problem. Fighters as far as Tajikistan were coming in. It felt like the whole world was coming through Syria.

It got so bad they put Assad on TV and made him more humanistic, sympathizing with his officers by telling the world of the manpower shortages his military faced fighting terrorism.

Do not mistaken the morale of elite units such as those that report directly to the Chief of Staff (comprised completely of Alawites, fully manned and given the best equipment; the republican guard, 4th armored, etc) and those of regular military. The high rates of desertions and draft dodging direclty of the regular military is due to the poor morale. Not every deserter joined the rebels. Some people just stayed home. A lot of young Syrian men have been imprisoned for dodging their call ups. It’s been such a problem that a program within the Syrian military was instigated to convert popular militias into regular reserve forces (the NDF; National Defense Force).

You can’t compare the morale of a loyal unit which has zero desertion, zero defection, and has stayed true since the beginning of the conflict (and I might add has a vested interest in seeing Assad win), and the units of the regular military which was the everyday Syrian citizen, confused and bewildered by the media inside and outside their country.

Take a look at the picture to highlight the loyalty of forces during 2013 and why Assad was banking on Hezbollah to turn the tide. An extra brigade to his line up would have been that much more significant considering how thin he had forces spread.

Thank you, Ann, for calling me a “pillar of strength.” It’s somewhat different from what my former in-laws call me.
“Perhaps in your next sitrep you (John Rambo) would tell a little about yourself, if I’m not asking too much.”
I normally discourage our research assistants from revealing any personal information. for obvious reasons of personal security. Let’s see, if he can explain some of his points of view without jeopardizing his well-being..
Warm regards

Mr.Rambo, I disagree with you. Your assessment of the Syrian regular army and paramilitaries is wrong and seems based on the deluge of propaganda which tells all of us that the Syrian army, or at least as you put it, its elite divisions and officer corps are made up by alawites.
This is completely false.
Even Robert Fisk, who, for a while, tried to push this line, eventually came around to telling the truth, namely, the syrian officer corps is mostly SUNNI.

The same is true for Syrias more elite formations**, such as the Republican Guard Div. and others. The NDF units, also mostly Sunni, are heavily embedded with regular army units, such as in Jobar.
One of the most feared Republican Guard div. generals, is the ‘mad Druze’, Issam Zahreddine, commander of Syrias 104th Brigade of the Rep.Guard.Div.
The following vids show the general in action with guardsmen, NDF, and the sunni shaytat tribesmen, fierce enemies of isis/daesh.

Lt. Gen. Ali Mamlook – Special National Security Adviser to the President – SUNNI

Dr. Buthayna Sha’baan – Special Advisor to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Palace spokeswoman – ALAWI

Rambo wrote:
“Because 2 years back Assad assumed Hezbollah would be able to do that for him.”

More accurately you assumed Assad assumed Hezb would bring victory to Syria.
I’m sure he never did.
Given the large numbers of troops involved on both sides, as good as hezb is, it is obvious they could not bring victory to Syria, and i don’t believe that was ever intended.

First I should be clear I never claimed the government was primarily composed of Alawites. I only claimed that PRIOR to this crisis there were ELITE units primarily composed of Alawites. If they have MORE sunnis now than they did in the past that is probably to recoup the MANPOWER LOSSES due to the four and a half year war.

I don’t think I’ve met a Syrian who, prior to the crisis, didn’t admit that the 4th Armored Division wasn’t completely comprised of Alawites. Considering all males had to go through conscription they all understood this and they knew the ones that came from the more connected families would be in 4th armored. Majority of these families were Alawites.

NDF does have a lot of sunnis considering the majority of Syrians are sunnis. The NDF did not exist prior to this crisis. Perhaps I should put it out here bluntly that this is not a sectarian conflict. But sectarian thinking has been applied to maintain loyalty amongst certain forces throughout this crisis.

After all most infiltrators within the SAA have been sunnis who have had sympathies to ISIL. If you are a military general THIS WOULD BE SOMETHING TO CONSIDER TO REDUCE ENEMY EFFECTIVENESS. A sectarian shake up of the forces managed to put (generally) more loyal Alawites together (yes and some loyal Sunnis) while shifting the rest to less important units (and I don’t mean less important that they can be thrown as cannon fodder).

The sunnis you have listed are people who have a VESTED interest in the government today, either by having deep ties with the Assad family or having influential family members loyal to Syria:

Najaah Al-‘Attaar; her father was one of the first to resist french rule in the 30s

Ali Mamlook: Father of the Syrian air force intelligence

‘Ali ‘Abdullah Ayyoob: promoted after doing good work trying to suppress the initial protests prior to the crisis (auto-promoted once his superior was promoted). So again loyalty has been confirmed.

These do not sound like the EVERYDAY Syrians I’m talking about. The low and middle class people who were bombarded by media from every angle and were the conscripts of the regular military (2 year conscription on young men, some of them may not be so eager to answer their draft).

Desertion and defection is DIRECTLY linked to morale. ALL militaries in the world gauge their morale based on these simple variables. The US knew it had a morale issue during Vietnam because of draft dodgers…. even when McNamara was saying “we are winning the war”.

Are you denying that forces haven’t defected/deserted from the SAA? (regardless of the fact that some defectors returned after seeing the horrors of Islamists in Syria). If morale was as high as you are claiming than defections and desertions should not have been a problem. They call it ‘esprit de corps’:

: feelings of loyalty, enthusiasm, and devotion to a group among people who are members of the group

If the ‘esprit de corp’ was high the FSA would not have existed in the early early years of the war (who were comprised of ex-Syrian officers). The FSA may not exist today but it was real in the beginning of the conflict.

As for Hezbollah, one can argue that its fighting the war in Syria as a strategic necessity to maintain lines of supply but Hezbollah, since its inception, has always been concerned with Lebanon first.

Even the Iranians openly admit they have had trouble asking Hezbollah to commit to some operations (prior to the current crisis in Syria) because Hezbollah has always been focused on one goal and that is the liberation (and continued freedom) of Lebanon from Israeli aggression.

To tell me such a group like this jumped head first into a war without caring about WHEN it will end is just underestimating the command competence of the group. Hezbollah is not an incompetent group. If Hezbollah knew the war would drag on for another two years it would not have committed troops into the fray and would have perhaps maintained a more advisory role to the Syrian military. ESPECIALLY when the threat of an Israeli attack, a very unpredictable opponent, can be a very real reality (as we saw how fast that escalated during the 2006 war).

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